[Tian] 1:09 (Patreon)

Warning, this chapter is still a heavy work in progress. I am putting it up now to get initial reception, while waiting for my editor to get back to me.

I CHARGE THE IMMORTAL BEFORE HE CAN RESPOND.

My footfalls rapidly approach him. I run with the elements flaring up behind me. The Essences gather inside of me. My core is cycling Qi, preparing for the intense battle to come.

Galgom looks at me with an apathetic gaze; I can see his face through the translucent red glass, and his body language tells me he does not even see me as a threat. He lazily tosses one of his blades my way. I leap into the air, avoiding the attack, flipping and landing behind him. I dash forth, thrusting a palm out his way.

His oddly shaped lips draw to a frown. He steps to the side and dodges the attack. Tugging at the wire connected to his blade, he pulls his blade back before whipping both out at me. I gracefully duck under it, gathering each element around me into a sphere.

Metal needles, wooden spikes, icicles, fiery arrows, and stone bullets rain down on Galgom. The earth shreds from the assault. The ground shoots up in a cloud of dust and dirt. I narrow my eyes, waiting for it to settle, trying to find Galgom amidst ground zero of the blast.

His blade bursts out of the veil hanging over us, piercing through it and curving my way. I bring one foot back as it plunges into the dirt floor, and my other foot follows it as his second blade barely misses me. A beam of light dispels the dust cloud, reaching me in an instant and digging a hole through my chest.

I collapse, dead.

“Do you really think I would fall for that?” Galgom shakes his head, the weapon changing in his hand to a spear. He lances it out behind him, and I barely manage to hop back in time.

“You noticed the illusion?” I ask, frowning. “How?”

A flash of red electricity zaps through the spearhead as he deliberately walks my way. “An illusion is an illusion,” he says, “it doesn’t matter how it’s done. I’ve never seen such tricks before, but—”

He is still a dozen paces away from me, and yet he stabs the spear forward. It instantly changes into a cylindrical object. I do not know what it is, but I recognize that it is dangerous. The same beam of light as before shoots out.

“I will never fall for a child’s trick!”

I break out into a run, circling around Galgom as the attack trails after me. A second of the same weapon appears in his other hand, firing the same laser at me from the other side. It closes in on me like a scissor, but I manage to slide under it, hand dragging through the dirt.

“If illusions are too simple for you, how about this?” My entire arm glows orange. The ground shifts. The entire perimeter around Galgom changes into molten rock. “School of Transmutation!”

Smoke sizzles from the immortal’s armor. He sinks to the ground, being eaten by the soft, hot earth. However, he does not seem affected by it at all.

“Pathetic attempt.”

Fire explodes from under him. It propels him up to the air where he hovers, looking down at me. The two weapons he holds begin to dissolve and reform over his head. A dozen smaller cylindrical objects are aimed towards me.

“Perish.”

A hail of golden lights crashes my way. They streak across the sky, setting it alight. It is not like the concentrated blasts from the Esh. Each individual beam is weaker. But together, they are stronger.

I press a fist against the ground, and the earth shoots up. It does not move abruptly. There is fluidity here. A construct made entirely out of stone rises from the ground. It stands at thrice my height, dwarfing me completely. Its body changes as I transmute it to something more solid, before it stands over me, shielding me from the oncoming lasers.

As it is slowly whittled away by Galgom’s attack, I inhale deeply and concetrade Qi to the palm of my hand. The stone construct eventually falls, and I burst from its remains. A jet of flames propels me up as I leap into the air.

Galgom’s eyes grow wide as I reach him, striking a palm forward.

“How about this? Liufan Holy Arts: Serpent’s Fang!”

A crack forms in his armor as he is sent flying to the ground. I do not let up. Colorful fire wreaths around me, creating the image of a phoenix. It spreads its iridescent tail wide open, before flapping its wings and soaring towards the crater Galgom lies in.

I cross my arms, waiting for the inevitable inferno. But the fiery phoenix stops. Red lightning shoots out through its chest, disintegrating the fire. The wisps of flame and cinder vanish, almost like it is decomposing.

Galgom now holds a single longsword in his hand. He slams it down, and more lighting arcs out of its tip.

“I am Galgom the Indomitable! I have been to countless worlds, met more species of people than grains of sand you have ever seen!”

A metal barrier forms around me, absorbing the lightning. However, instead of just conducting it through and into the air, the same effect happens to the metal. It begins to disintegrate. It turns to black dust that simply disappears.

“I will not die to some random girl. I am immortal!”

He jumps at me, clearing the distance in a mere moment. I cannot dodge his strike in time. I am forced to cover myself with my forearms, letting the School of Enchantment enforce my skin. The School of Abjuration aids me with an aura shield, and his spear impacts the multi-colored barrier. Nothing happens as he presses the spear hard against its surface. Until there is a flicker.

A splash of energy explodes out, sending both of us back in opposite directions. I roll on the ground and quickly pick myself up, but I see Galgom already approaching me with haste. The sounds of his footsteps are heavy and metallic, just like the Esh, yet he moves even faster than they can.

He runs past clusters upon clusters of Lifeblood. It is almost like a sea with how dense this area is of the red blobs. I have never tried anything with it yet, but… will it work? I bite my lower lip and place my front foot forward. Holding out a finger, I hope for the best. “School of Invocation!”

The Lifeblood explodes into fire, water, earth, and air. Bursts of this world’s elements overcome Galgom before he can reach me. I do not wait for him to recover. As he is flung into the air, I put two of my hands together and take a deep breath.

“School of Summoning.”

A swarm of translucent green specks stream out of the ground. It is an emulation— a reproduction— of the same Spirits I saw in the Forsaken Palace. Despite dismissing them with ease, I have never seen such a powerful, vengeful group of Spirits before.

They cover Galgom with their fury, eating at his armor. I see more chinks beginning to form in the black metal. Cracks form on it like spider webs in an old, unkempt room. He screams. Not in pain. But in anger.

“Suffer!”

He spins around as electricity crackles from his spear. It lashes out at the false Spirits. They are zapped out of existence while he circles like a typhoon. He crashes back down like a comet, coming straight at me.

I leap out of the way in time, and duck under his follow-up thrust. He slices vertically at me with his spear, but I redirect it by kicking his arm. I land a quick jab, following it by a sweep to his legs. He falls to the ground as it transmutes into mud. It solidifies around him. He roars.

“You—”

“Shut up,” I snap and point at him. “Liufan Sacred Technique: Mountain’s Fall.”

The earth begins to swallow everything up. It is like a whirlpool of dirt. The kwyer trees around us are absorbed into that spot, crushing Galgom, compressing him with the pressure of nature itself.

I step back, waiting, observing. The ground stops moving. There is no movement. Did I win? I am not sure. I cannot sense anything—

A hand grabs me by the feet. I look down in shock as Galgom pries himself out from below me. The visor on his helmet is broken. Shards of the red glass are sticking out of his face. Purple blood pours from his cheeks. He stares up at me with mad, black eyes. It is like he does not even have a sclera.

“You cannot command me!”

His weapon is gone, but he slams a fist into my stomach. The strike breaks through my enchantments. I cannot set up an aura of protection in time. My body digs through the ground until I roll to a stop right by an fallen kwyer trunk.

“Neither can you kill—”

I hear his booming voice continue, but it is cut off. The sound reaches my eyes. I just do not understand it. It is like there is a static being transmitted to me. I place a finger on my right ear. Bits of metal collapse onto my hand. “The translator is broken?”

I get to my feet, groaning as blood drips down my mouth. My stomach hurts. I feel like I am reaching my limit. I still have my novacloth pouch on me. It is designed to withstand even my strongest attack. There is no way it can tear here.

My fingers twitch, and I reach for my pouch. Galgom notices the movement. He stops his speech, rushing forth. I click my tongue. “You are annoying.”

I receive his punch, but I am prepared this time. The violet aura does not fully take the blow off me. I can feel the pain coursing through my cheeks as my head snaps back. I let out one of my own kicks, aiming for the crack on his chest.

The metal is smashed to bits. He reels back— and grabs my leg, yanking me into the air. I see the blue sky for less than a moment before my face is eating dirt. He slams me down, and I cough out more blood.

“Urk—”

“R...n...u!” he bellows.

Galgom’s grip around my leg does not loosen. I can tell it will not be an easy task to free myself from him. So, I do not.

“Void Walk.”

In an instant, I am dropped on top of a broken, metallic body, far from Galgom. His gaze snaps my way, the confusion on his face evident.

“Don’t have a Class, now do you?” That is obvious.

I get to my feet, hurriedly digging into my novacloth pouch. As I pull out a handful of ginsoul pills, Galgom is already descending upon me. I flinch. I can already feel the attack hitting me. But instead, he is knocked back by a golden ray.

“...Seiled?” I turn around, expecting to see the boy standing there with his weapon raised. However, it is Nindrai who lowers her head, breathing heavily as she stands over a dead Esh. She calls out.

“X...k…!”

I do not understand her. I simply crunch down on two ginsoul pills as Galgom tries to pick himself up. I walk over to him, cracking my knuckles as my Qi flares around me, shining the colors of the rainbow. But something else glows brilliantly, too.

A black light. Almost familiar. Like the one Kalmat had been consumed by.

Galgom whirls around and throws a hard punch— and I catch it. His armor is shattered. His weapons are gone. There is nothing left for him to fight me with. There is nothing left but pitting his own physical capabilities against mine. Unfortunately, I dwarf him in strength.

“U...m.”

A savage smile spreads across my face as he opens his mouth. He tries to speak, I do not listen. I do not understand. He says something, but I just bring my fist to his face. I pour all of my Qi into the attack. Everything I can muster up.

The punch connects. It radiates an elegant white that even blinds my vision. I can feel Galgom giving way to my punch. The weight of it all is too much for him to handle. He screams a blood-curdling cry as my hand goes through him.

The light vanishes. All I see left of him is a splatter on the ground. The pool of purple blood marks all that is left of him. Galgom. The immortal. The tyrant ruling over this world.

I slay him in that final strike.

For defeating Galgom in battle, you are awarded a level in your Class!
- Lost Soul Level 2 advances to Lost Soul Level 3.

For aiding the Keepers of the Grove in their rebellion, you have been rewarded with a Class advancement!
- Lost Soul Level 3 becomes Soul Seeker Level 3.
- One who has tapped into their Aspect, seeking out their path, setting out on a journey to become something more.

Tian
Race: Ren
Class: Soul Seeker Level 3
Feats:
- Void Walk
- Ray of Esh
- Dual Core